Six months into their relationship, Steve Rounds visited girlfriend Paula Miller at her family’s home in Naples, Fla., for Christmas.

The night he arrived, Paula’s sister Lynn and her husband, Chris, were hosting a holiday party. It was a balmy Florida evening, and a band was playing Neil Young and Tom Petty tunes on the back patio. Paula’s dad was on guitar and vocals, her brother on keyboard, an old friend on guitar and her mom on drums.

Live music was Steve and Paula’s great love before they met (both are avid fans of the Grateful Dead) so Steve felt right at home with the family band. Said Paula, “Usually it’s just my family, but it was so natural to have him there with us.”

Paula, 47, moved to San Francisco in 2002. She works as chief of staff for Curran Live & CSH Productions. Steve, 42, is from Sunnyvale but has lived in San Rafael since 2005 and is a project manager for Davey Resource Group.

The pair first began noticing each other at local concerts in 2010, but nothing clicked until they were both invited to a mutual friend’s 40th birthday at the Russian River in June of 2011.

They hit it off and Steve spent his drive home wondering what to plan for their first date. Paula pre-empted him by inviting him to join her for a Giants game the next Monday. But neither wanted to wait through the weekend, so they had a lobster dinner on Friday night, saw Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at Stern Grove on Sunday, then attended the ball game together on Monday.

Both say they had never made finding love their top concern. “When I would go to hear music, it was all about dancing, I didn’t care about meeting people,” said Paula. Said Steve: “I always knew it would happen; I just didn’t make it a priority.”

The night before he left Paula’s family home that first Christmas together, Steve told Paula’s brother-in-law that Paula was “the one.” He agreed, saying, “Paula’s the coolest chick in the world.”

Three weeks later, Steve and Paula moved in together in San Rafael, and two years later, in 2013, Steve proposed on another Christmas visit to Florida so they could celebrate with Paula’s family.

“We have so much in common that it makes it so easy,” said Steve. “You find a best friend and life partner all at the same time — you can’t put it into words, it just is.”

One night while at their regular haunt, Terrapin Crossroads, the San Rafael club owned by Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, Steve and Paula were discussing their trouble finding the right wedding venue and a staffer suggested they marry there.

On May 16, Steve and Paula became the first couple to wed at Terrapin Crossroads. Given its location on the yacht harbor, the groom and his groomsmen arrived by boat.

The ceremony included Grateful Dead tunes played by a harpist. Mutual friend Scott Jaffke officiated and Steve and Paula spoke lines from Bob Dylan’s “Wedding Song” for their vows.

Tables at the reception were named after venues where the Grateful Dead had played, like Barton Hall, Soldier Field and Shoreline Amphitheater. Ryan Kerrigan, a friend and artist, designed a unique wedding favor: a print mimicking the Fillmore’s iconic concert posters, with bride and groom turtles dancing in front of Terrapin Crossroads.

Of course, one of the most important facets of the wedding was the music, so the couple asked musician friend Jordan Feinstein to put together a rockin’ band. Feinstein called upon several of the musicians who regularly play at Terrapin Crossroads to join him.

Best man Kip Andersen called the couple “love activists,” and his toast was filled with Grateful Dead references.

“I remember a few years back, Steve telling me of this incredible girl that he met, and I said, ‘So you’re telling me she’s your ‘Sugar Magnolia’ your ‘Lovelight?’”

While one might assume the couple attended the 50th anniversary Grateful Dead “Fare Thee Well” shows in Santa Clara or Chicago for their honeymoon, they didn’t.

Given the cost of the wedding, they couldn’t justify the expense, so they decided on the High Sierra Music Festival instead.

“We’re just so happy to be with each other,” said Paula, adding, “We’re finally being adults.”

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